CRC funded reports

2010/11

Summaries of these reports are given below. These reports are held by the Australian Institute of Criminology's
JV Barry Library and are available on inter-library loan. For full bibliographic information on any
report, search the Library's Catalogue.

Jury Sentencing Survey

The central aims of the study were first, to develop an innovative method of gauging informed public opinion on sentencing by using jurors in criminal trials and second, to explore the use of jurors as a means of better informing the public about crime and sentencing

This project sought to describe the types of custodial-based treatment programs that are currently offered to offenders in Australia and changes to models of delivery over time. Data on correctional prison-based rehabilitation programs offered throughout Australia were collected through interviews with Departmental representatives and review of program manuals.
All jurisdictions have dedicated significant resources to the development and delivery of a suite of high-intensity offender rehabilitation programs, with relatively consistency in approaches to program delivery between States and Territories.

Antisocial behaviour: An examination of individual, family, and neighbourhood factors

This project simultaneously examines individual, family and neighbourhood predictors of adolescent antisocial behaviour. This paper draws on the Mater University Study of Pregnancy (MUSP) and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) census data to examine the between neighbourhood variation in incidences of antisocial behaviour in adolescence while controlling for a range of individual and familial factors. Analyses explore the dynamic relationship between individual and social factors and their relationship to antisocial behaviour across the Statistical Local Areas located in South East Queensland region. Individual and maternal factors and family processes were more important than neighbourhood characteristics. The small observed area effects may have pronounced impacts on outcomes and the present research suggests that disadvantage may exacerbate antisocial behaviour. However, these effects are secondary to other individual and familial factors

Assessing the therapeutic climate of prisons

Correctional administrations across Australia have, in recent years, dedicated considerable resources to the development of offender rehabilitation programs. Whilst few controlled evaluations of Australian correctional programs have been conducted, there is a long history of anecdotal and ethnographic observations relating to the nature of prison cultures and their possible deleterious effects on rehabilitative outcomes. This project aims to investigate the social climate of Australian prison units; validate a brief scale (the EssenCES) for assessing prison social climates; provide a comparison between different types of unit; and develop recommendations for improving the therapeutic context in which rehabilitation programs are offered.